stereo vs mono inputs

[trek]

I'm using an emu 1820 w/ sonar 5. When I plug my microphone into the
preamp on the emu, sonar gives me the option to record through the left
mono, the right mono, or the stereo mono on that line. What would be the
difference if there is only one source - the mic?

 

[daav]

Normally, the pre out will go into your input (1st one would likely be the mono left).
i dont know sonar, but you probabaly have some control of the input buses and can select what the inputs of the card will read as. In cubase you would designate either mono or stereo bus(es) and in this case map input 1 to a mono input. Alternately you could count input 1 and 2 as the two sides of a stero bus and use the left channel as input 1.

hope this helps,
Daav